Tigard is gearing up for a two-year planning process that in part will gauge what residents would like to see in the next phase of the expansive River Terrace community off Roy Rogers Road.
Among the plans for a future roadmap for River Terrace 2.0 is community engagement that will include public open houses, surveys, a community advisory committee and more as the city plans for expansion of its northwestern most housing project.
Plans for River Terrace 2.0 include annexing 500 acres of land near Southwest Roy Rogers Road, between Scholls Ferry and Beef Bend roads, with a goal of building 4,500 new homes in a wide range of types, size and prices.
Over the next 24 months, Tigard planners will work on comprehensive plan policies, a zoning map, development code updates, and an infrastructure plan to allow development to proceed, according to city documents.
Already 'a phenomenal success'
A decade ago, Tigard adopted River Terrace’s first community plan. Residents began moving into the first batch of homes in 2016.
Since then, the area has developed at breakneck speed, well ahead of schedule.
“We estimated at the time we completed the (community) plan that this would produce roughly 2,587 dwelling units or somewhere around 6,500 new residents. Nine short years later, the area is 85% entitled (structures that have land-use approval) with 14 developments for a total of 2,431 entitled units to date and still more to come. So, we’ve already gotten to just shy of 100 below what we projected,” senior planner Schuyler Warren told the Tigard City Council on June 11. “Given this area was intended to develop over 20 years, I think we consider this a phenomenal success.”
With the continuing development of Beaverton’s 2,300-acre South Cooper Mountain area to the north and the future King City Kingston Terrace development, which will butt up to Roy Rogers Road at Beef Bend Road to the south, River Terrace 2.0 will sit smack dab in the middle of those two developments.
While those communities will add numerous residents as well, the proposed River Terrace 2.0 also will add significantly to Tigard’s population of over 55,000 residents.
Just how many?
“If you assume a unit count of up to 4,500 homes and an average household size of 2.3, then it would be somewhere around 9,000,” Warren wrote in a follow-up email.
Currently, Tigard is seeking members for a River Terrace 2.0 advisory community to get citizen input on how they would like to see the development proceed.
Among the likely discussion items is how first-time home-buyers or those in lower income brackets can become part of that community. In addition, the committee will likely delve into how the new neighborhoods will connect with Beaverton and King City neighborhoods, according to sample questions .
Jumpstarting 'missing middle' housing
Last year, Tigard pushed for Metro to agree to its first-ever land swap . Since the community was expanding so rapidly, the regional government allowed for the River Terrace 2.0 property to come into urban growth boundary two years ahead of time. The swap resulted in delaying two parcels of land in Clackamas County, which were scheduled to be brought in earlier than Tigard’s project.
Along the way, River Terrace has also become a focal point when it comes to addressing what’s known as “missing middle” housing, generally housing such as cottages, row houses, courtyard units, making it easier for people who make less money to afford living in a variety of different neighborhoods and developments.
Although House Bill 2001, passed in 2019, required cities of 10,000 or more residents to permit missing middle housing in virtually all residential areas, Tigard was the first city in the state to allow middle housing in all its zones a year earlier.
In order to jumpstart that missing middle building component, the city broke ground on Taylor Morrison’s Innovate at Eastridge project in River Terrace in 2021. That development resulted in 13 duplexes (containing a total of 26 units) along with six triplexes (containing 18 units), all mixed in among the more spendy single-family homes.
As Tigard moves forward with plans for River Terrace 2.0, the city will also begin enticing an estimated 38 property owners to allow their parcels to be annexed into the city for future housing. The city hopes to do that by offering property tax phase-in incentives, sweetening the deal by giving even bigger incentives than it did during River Terrace’s first phase in 2011.
At that time, property owners were offered a phase-in rate of 33% the first year, 66% the second year, and 100% full property value payment the third year.
“So, the proposed rate structure that we're bringing forward this time is 0% in the first year, followed by 50% in the second year and 100% in the third year,” Warren explained to the council.
Construction-wise, River Terrace 2.0 is a few years off, with the earliest development applications not being expected until the summer 2026, said Warren. For larger projects, that likely will mean no movement of home foundation dirt until summer 2027.
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